How important is a curve on 34" 21:9 ultrawide monitors?

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theone1989

Limp Gawd
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I've current preordered an AOC U3477PQU from Amazon at a decent price of £525. Which is at least £100 cheaper than the next cheapest flat 34" from LGC and a curved Dell U3415W. Now as I've only preordered and Amazon says it will take another 2 weeks to come back in stock, I can still change my mind.

The 34" AOC is supposed to replace my old faithful Dell 2709W, which is flanked by 2 x 23" 1080p AOC monitors. I'm not sure how ridiculous my setup will look with a 34" in the middle lol. I would have settled for a 32" 16:9 1440p but I've gone through two BenQ BL3200PT and each time sent back for dead pixels (4-7), so not trying again as they all have same panel.

How important is that curve on a 34" 21:9 1440p Ultrawide monitor? Would you pay at least £100/$150 more for a curve? As far as 34" monitors go, every model except Samsung uses an LG panel, so panel differences are moot.
 
it is a gimmick, period. You'd need quite a long display (kinda like the one people with 3 big monitors have) in order for you to notice a benefit.
 
The curve is nice to have on a display that size. For TV's (well, sort of) it's a gimmick - unless you sit close to it and centered. And by close, I mean within 3 feet. I'm using a 48" TV as a monitor and the curve is necessary to me. $400 necessary. It helps keep the edges of the display "close" which is noticeable at this size and proximity. If you can see them in store, you can decide for yourself... but I'd say it's worth it for $150.
 
For me, about 24" is the limit. I have a 27" now, and I feel like the edges are getting angled. 30" is way past my point of comfort, the edges are way off the viewing angle.

For TVs that are far away, I agree that it's not essential, just for looks.
 
I have flat BenQ 32" and do no feel lack of curve, IPS panels have very good viewing angle. But if a 21:9 monitor with height of the 32" will ever appear (5040x2160 res) I buy it only if it is curved.
 
wirk said:
I have flat BenQ 32" and do no feel lack of curve, IPS panels have very good viewing angle. But if a 21:9 monitor with height of the 32" will ever appear (5040x2160 res) I buy it only if it is curved.
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IPS glow makes for terrible viewing angles. I struggle with my 27".
 
for no cost? sure. for the price difference they're asking? man, do you guys not think about what other things you could be doing with that money?

as a multiple time surround user (came from 1080p surround then went back to 1440p surround), this hype around the curve is absolutely laughable. 3440x1440 is great because it stops just before the image starts to distort, which needs some curve to compensate. Surround users know this. the whole reason you tilt the side monitors is to combat the distortion. if your image (with 3440x1440) isn't really reaching much into that range, I don't understand why you guys are paying that much premium for that silly curve
 
Exyia said:
for no cost? sure. for the price difference they're asking? man, do you guys not think about what other things you could be doing with that money?

as a multiple time surround user (came from 1080p surround then went back to 1440p surround), this hype around the curve is absolutely laughable. 3440x1440 is great because it stops just before the image starts to distort, which needs some curve to compensate. Surround users know this. the whole reason you tilt the side monitors is to combat the distortion. if your image (with 3440x1440) isn't really reaching much into that range, I don't understand why you guys are paying that much premium for that silly curve
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Because just maybe some of us don't want to bother with all of the issues you can experience with multi monitor setups, such as bezels, multi display calibration, GUI scaling in games, among many other things.

I prefer one large monitor over several smaller ones.
 
darklight_tr said:
Because just maybe some of us don't want to bother with all of the issues you can experience with multi monitor setups, such as bezels, multi display calibration, GUI scaling in games, among many other things.

I prefer one large monitor over several smaller ones.
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your reading comprehension is fantastic

I was totally trying to argue surround vs 21:9, because that was the point of both my post and the thread :rolleyes:
 
When I say "viewing angle" I don't mean TN vs IPS color shift. I mean the actual angle of the edge of the screen relative to my eyeball for reading text.
 
Exyia said:
for no cost? sure. for the price difference they're asking? man, do you guys not think about what other things you could be doing with that money?

as a multiple time surround user (came from 1080p surround then went back to 1440p surround), this hype around the curve is absolutely laughable. 3440x1440 is great because it stops just before the image starts to distort, which needs some curve to compensate. Surround users know this. the whole reason you tilt the side monitors is to combat the distortion. if your image (with 3440x1440) isn't really reaching much into that range, I don't understand why you guys are paying that much premium for that silly curve
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After some considerations, my question is a bit moot because I don't think I can afford the extra for curved because I'm going to need another r9 290 in crossfire to play 60fps at 3440x1440. I'm pretty sure my single r9 290 isn't going to cut it.
 
I honestly haven't used both. Seemingly like everyone else here. Hard to make an informed opinion....
 
I own a flat 34" 21:9, and although I see the appeal of curved, the curve on those monitors is so subtle it's hard to see it making much of a difference...
 
Having had the 34um94 that I only returned due to defect, I can say my next purchase would be for a curved one. The distance I sat made the extreme left and right seem to not be facing me directly, I feel the curve would compensate for that. Almost everyone that reviews the curved monitors says they wouldn't go back to flat so it must be something.

Oh, and as of last week the Dell U3415W curved 21:9 34" was available for $850, only $100 than I had paid for the 34UM94, that $100 is probably worth it considering how long i'd have the monitor.
 
x3sphere said:
I own a flat 34" 21:9, and although I see the appeal of curved, the curve on those monitors is so subtle it's hard to see it making much of a difference...
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I agree I like the idea of them but actually seeing one and using one in person the curve really isn't even noticeable unless your running 3 of them and they more smoothly curves around you for surround gaming.
 
I wouldn't say a curved monitor is essential or a necessity. Its a nicety. Big difference. If you got the dough to blow go for a curved but if you just want something affordable go for the flat screens. Just my opinion. :)
 
Skott said:
I wouldn't say a curved monitor is essential or a necessity. Its a nicety. Big difference. If you got the dough to blow go for a curved but if you just want something affordable go for the flat screens. Just my opinion. :)
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The curved dell haa been less than $850 pretty recently.

The Samsung also seems to have some nice advantages besides the curve. Like less input lag and blb.
 
For desktop curved is a good 3-4 star out of 5 perk. Is it end all be all? No. But a good perk. In the livingroom curved TV's at normal viewing distances is ridiculous. There I prefer flat every time.
 
My AOC U3447PQU finally arrived. Now I can answer the question for myself.

Not very much.

Maybe its because I've become very accustomed to using triple monitor set up.

When watching films, the field of view is freakin awesome. the edges of screen take up a lot of my peripheral vision. however, i will not find out if they could be a bit clearer if the edges were curved.

But atm, with no curve, I have no feeling that something is amiss and I love it. I now only switch on my 2 side monitors if I'm doing work, before all 3 monitors were all on the time because 1 wasn't enough.
 
Well, it depends what you are doing, if you are reading text, i dont know about the current gen, but the first gen panels, never made a pixel pitch difference in the curves.. or made any actual physical accommodations for the curve.. which ends up in pixels being a bit squashed.. really. At least in the first gen, it was a gimmick, because it wasnt done properly.. they probably released them improperly just so they can sell properly made ones later, jj.

It can help, i think in fighting the gamma loss for off centre viewing.. gamma shift can be very annoying. I keep most my action currently in the centre, so i wouldnt want one myself. plus my current main display doesn't have hardly any gamma loss in off centre viewing, but it is centre anyhow. but if you like surround periphery vision, and that immersiveness? is more important to you than competitive play, you decide if it's important. gamma loss in super wide could be pretty annoying. I've used superwide in a 3 portraits display array. I use a wide display array sometimes.. actually a hybrid, however if i want to see lots i sit far back. In my understanding, for competitive play, you should keep all important parts of the screen in your `golden rectangle` thats the area your eyes see the best, and can register and move around the quickest. this includes monitoring. It`s like the middle 30-40 percent. Pretty narrow. That is why 4:3 monitors were considered most ergonomic. if you shrink the screen down you put a bit of your periphery into th'rectangle. So the display should never be all around you. Not to say that a curved display cant give you a good perspective, but you might sit a bit back for competitive play.. and you'll be missing up and down. but if you want to eek a bit more on centre viewing and a bit more periphery in, that curved screen might serve you that immersive experience. But you havnt mentioned what measure it is important for you just put out a global, how important is it for widescreen for anything, we`ll, it`s very unimportant for seeing up and down, and it probably sucks for sharing a screen.. if the pixels are not squished, and mathemtical physical accomodations have been made, and you want to have an immersive experience, i'd say it;'s the way to go for super wide gaming. but for mutli task i think it's better to have a single plane and sit back and move around? like move your head to a tilt, im sure curved text sucks.
 
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I jsut upgraded from a 25" 21:9 to a 34" 21:9 today. I see no problems with the corners, but I also dont sit on top of my monitor. There is probably 3-3.5 feet between my face & the monitor at normal viewing (leaned back in my chair gaming).
 
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